Wireless electronic devices, particularly portable wireless electronic devices, have long been employed to exchange data. Because of their small form factor and their wireless capability, portable wireless electronic devices have been widely employed to conduct transactions. As the term is employed herein, a transaction encompasses the act of furnishing electronic data to accomplish some commercial, technical and/or social purposes. As an example of a commercially-oriented transaction, the transfer of electronic payment data in exchange for goods or services represents a type of transaction routinely conducted by smart card users and/or users of cellular phones equipped with electronic payment capability.
As an example of a technically-oriented transaction, a portable wireless electronic device may be employed to furnish authentication data to authenticate the identity of the user of the portable wireless electronic device. Such authentication, once successfully accomplished, would then permit the user of the authenticating portable wireless electronic device to, for example, log on to a computer, open a door, start a car, receive a document, etc. As an example of a socially-oriented transaction, the user of a portable wireless electronic device may employ the portable wireless electronic device to provide contact information to another electronic device that belongs to another user, thereby accomplishing the electronic equivalence of exchanging business cards.
As more and more users come to rely on portable wireless electronic devices to conduct transactions, issues such as security have become critical. While it is highly convenient to carry and use a portable wireless electronic device for the purpose of conducting transactions, there are serious security concerns. For example, since the wireless transmission medium is omni-directional, there is always a risk that someone may employ another wireless device to “hack” into the portable wireless electronic device and gain unauthorized access to the data therein. In this case, confidential electronic data such as electronic payment data or personal data may be transmitted to the hacking device, or may be caused to be transmitted to the hacking device, without the full knowledge and/or consent of the owner of the user or the portable wireless electronic device. This is because often times, the user may not even be aware that an unauthorized data transfer has taken place.
Even if the exchange of electronic data is performed with the intended party, the wireless medium is highly susceptible to eavesdropping. For example, while the portable wireless electronic device exchanges data with its intended target electronic device, eavesdropping equipment may be employed for snooping on the data being transferred. If the transferred data includes Financial information, log-in information and/or any other confidential information, another party may be able to intercept and employ such intercepted confidential data for illicit purposes at a later time.